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I (and my company) have decided to support the ICE (In Case of Emergencycontact) campaign, started by Bob Brotchie of the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust in the UK. Bob’s idea was to put ICE into Cell phones to indicate who to call in an emergency. It’s a simple concept, which is why it will be so beneficial. The problem is, smartphones and handhelds are a little more complicated than the typical cell phone, and there’s many ways to put contact information into them.

And that’s were we can help. For starters, this is good for my clients (and any other handheld and smartphone user). The press release below explains why I’m getting involved in this campaign, which I think is a really, really good idea that can help save lives.

Today, Solutions At Hand announced the availability of ICE (In Case of Emergency contact) resources specifically designed for use with Palm Powered(TM) and Blackberry(TM) handhelds and smartphones. ICE Contact(http://www.icecontact.com) is a campaign to raise awareness for the need to carry next of kin information on your person, in case of accidents or other emergencies. Solutions At Hand recently became aware of the ICE campaign, and co-founder Michael Brown at once realized the importance of it. “I spent a few years volunteering with St. John Ambulance, and I know from that experience that it is sometimes difficult to get information from patients who are injured or in shock. Getting that information quickly could make all the difference in the case of severely injured persons. ICE can help save lives. To that effect, we’ve added ICE contact creation as an assignment to each and every course we deliver, so our clients become educated about the need to have emergency contact information on their handheld or smartphone.”

With the proliferation of wireless devices, and the various models available, getting that information in a consistent fashion could be difficult for emergency services personnel. To address that need, Solutions At Hand has prepared tutorials and other information downloads, to make it easier for end-users to create ICE contacts in their mobile device. Currently there are resources for Palm(TM) and Blackberry(TM) devices, which walk end-users through the process of creating an ICE contact. These How-To guides are designed for use by anyone, from beginners to those with considerable experience with their devices.

Emergency personnel also have resources available to them, in the form of a Reference Manual. It covers how to retrieve the ICE contact information from a variety of handheld devices. Currently this material is available in English, and will be updated, maintained and enhanced, while still being made freely available from the Solutions At Hand website, located athttp://www.SolutionsAtHand.ca As to why Solutions At Hand has taken on supporting the ICE campaign, Michael had this to say: “We’re uniquely qualified to support the ICE campaign. We deliver training on how to use handhelds and smartphones to improve the quality of one’s life; we’re excited and pleased to be able to do something that may help SAVE lives!”

More information on Solutions At Hand’s involvement in the ICE campaign can be found at their website, http://www.solutionsathand.ca Information about the main ICE campaign, as well as information specific to standard cellular phones can be found at the ICE website, http://www.icecontact.com

About ICE Contact

The ICE concept was the brainchild of Cambridge-based paramedic Bob Brotchie, who works for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust.

He discovered that most accident victims carry no next of kin details, yet most carry a mobile phone. ICE was launched in early 2005 in conjunction with the Vodafone and Daily Express backed Life Savers awards, and was endorsed by Falklands War hero Simon Weston. “The whole idea is brilliant, purely and simply because of modern lifestyles,” he said. “It’s a very sensible and campaign and I wholly endorse it.”